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root-and-branch
root-and-branchadjectiveon a large scale or without discrimination; wholesale
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root and branch
root and branchUtterly, completely, as in The company has been transformed root and branch by the new management. Alluding to both the underground and aboveground parts of a tree, this idiom was first recorded in 1640.
root-and-branch
Britishadjective
adverb
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The author ties his root-and-branch critique of capitalism to a plea to “make modern life much more affordable than it is at present,” which he hopes will open more opportunities for enlightened leisure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
And because of its hallowed status as a national treasure, any efforts at root-and-branch change quickly run up against political resistance.
From New York Times ● Jul. 16, 2023
He was also shrewd enough to understand that there needed to be root-and-branch reform of the Communist Party itself if his economic reforms were to succeed.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2022
But this is the first time he’s dug root-and-branch into a decades-old genre he’d only glanced at before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2022
What we call our root-and-branch reforms of slavery, war, gambling, intemperance, is only medicating the symptoms.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 35, September, 1860 by Various
So what happens if there's a root and branch review, with every spending line scrutinised, new priorities set and given more funds and others squeezed or cut?
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2025
Not at his attempts to wreak personal vengeance, reconstitute Washington root and branch, or engineer a lasting partisan realignment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2024
The president says he wants to implement root and branch reform in the coming years.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2024
In short, VAR, in its current form, has been an unmitigated disaster and must either undergo a root and branch review and be updated with the buy-in of players and managers or be scrapped altogether.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2023
Where it touched the ground it melted, but all about him rock and root and branch wore a thin blanket of white.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.